Eye of the Beholder
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "I don't know," I said suspiciously, picking up the vial and raising it to my eyes. "Come along Potter – you're not always going to be young. You need to settle down and make more bespectacled messy haired kids to wreak havoc in the wizarding world."
1. Eye of the Beholder

Harry's POV

I had shared five years of my school life with the mischievous twin that settled into the seat across from me. And it was those five years that had taught me to be cautious about accepting anything said twin gave me to eat or drink. That was the reason I was eyeing the potions vial he has placed in front of me with distrust. Looking between George and the vial that sat innocuously on the table top, I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Alright, I'll bite." My words made George grin as he took a swig of his butterbeer, "What is it?"

"One of my newest creations," he explained, gesturing to the potion. "Take it before you go to bed and then well – you'll see what it does in your dreams."

"Good try." I pushed the vial back towards him. "I'm not drinking that without you telling me what it does."

"Becoming an auror's changed you," complaining good-naturedly, George shook his head. "It's like a cross between a dreaming potion, a love potion of sorts and some divination mixed in all together."

"That sounds dangerous."

"Doesn't it make you want to try it though?" He grinned, "We all know that you're an adrenaline junky."

My eyes narrowed as I chuckled, "Everyone knows that George, but truthfully – what does it do?"

"It'll help you meet the perfect Mrs Potter." He continued on, ignoring the disbelief written across my face. "Try it – it took almost a year to make perfect, the love potion aspect is meant to rid you of any mental constraints that you have stopping you from seeking her out and the divination part well, you want to know what sort of future you'll have together right? So, how does it sound?"

"I don't know," I said suspiciously, picking up the vial and raising it to my eyes.

"Come along Potter – you're not always going to be young. You need to settle down and make more bespectacled messy haired kids to wreak havoc in the wizarding world."

"I'm only 20," I pointed out.

"And you have no idea how long it'll take to find the woman of your dreams." George drained the last of his butterbeer, "For all you know Potter she could be on the other side of the world."

"And you're sure it'll work." I couldn't curb my suspicion.

"Trust me Potter, I'm 98% sure it'll work –"

"And the other 2%?" Raising an eyebrow, I glanced contemplatively at the potion.

"Well every product has a margin of error." Shrugging innocently, he rose to his feet.

This was all so stupid, I thought as I leaned further away from the potion as if it would make the prospect of finding 'the one' any less tempting. "And why did you choose me to test it out?"

"Because frankly, you've got the biggest case of blue balls I've seen in a while." Putting on his still ridiculous purple suit jacket, he made no comment on the way I flushed completely at his words. "And out of all of my friends, you've always been the one to want a family the most. Isn't that what you're after? Family?"

I didn't answer him because there was no need to, he already knew what I wanted. Lowering my eyes to the potion, I pushed my glasses further up my nose. It still sounded so tempting. But weren't these things supposed to happen on their own? Wasn't there a time where I was destined to meet 'the one'?

But then again, what if this was the way I found her? By saying no to this then there was a chance that I was saying goodbye to the entire –

"If you don't want to try it then I guess I'll take it back." George's voice made my eyes snap up towards him. He shrugged, reaching down to pick up the potion. "I can always find someone else to try it out."

"No," I said instantly, making him pause. He made no attempt to hide his smile. "I'll try it out."

"You're sure?" Nodding wordlessly, I held out my hand for the potion. George wasted no time in handing it off to me, "Make sure to drop by the shop tomorrow to tell me what you think."

"Will do." Curling my hand around the vial, I hurriedly put it into my pocket.

George promptly left the pub, needing to head home and I took my time to finish my drink before doing the same. A huge part of me wanted to drink the potion and just hurry off to bed to see if it would work but it was still too early to go to bed. I forced myself to sit look through some unsolved case files for a few hours after dinner and once it was time to sleep, my motions unconsciously became faster. I hurriedly dressed in my pyjamas and brushed my teeth.

Stepping out of my bathroom and walking into the bedroom, my eyes narrowed on the potion vial lying on the bedside table where I had placed it hours before. Perching on the edge of the bed, I removed the topper. I hesitated for a moment only, before tipping its entire contents down my throat. Setting the empty vial aside, I got into bed and waited for sleep to come over me. I could already feel the anticipation settle in as I wondered how long it would take for me to fall asleep.

It didn't take long.

* * *

The potion worked in an odd way – it was as if I had been transported into the scene and I frowned, wondering what I was supposed to do. I glanced down at the watch on my wrist and looked to the building in front of me. Putting the two clues together, I decided that I was meant to head into work. I was so tempted to duck into one of the toilets inside of the ministry building to see whether my face had changed with age – as if that would give me some sort of estimate of when I'm supposed to meet this woman.

But I didn't. Instead I continued to walk through the building as some of my co-workers walked past me. A man was walking towards me, reading a newspaper and I tried to snag a glimpse of the date but it was blurred out, the numbers illegible. Merlin forbid this whole meeting my match business went smoothly, I thought with a roll of my eyes.

As I continued my passage through the hallways, I found myself searching the faces of the women walking in the same corridor. It was a pointless exercise. How was I supposed to recognise her if I had no idea who I was looking for? Was there going to be some kind of sign? Or was I supposed to –

I bumped into someone, grunting on impact. The woman that I had bumped into gasped softly, crouching down quickly to retrieve her fallen papers. Kneeling down beside her, I hurriedly started to pick them up. What if I missed her because I had bumped into some woman during my search of her?

"I'm so sorry," the woman said, her head still bowed towards the ground as she picked up the last of the papers.

"Don't be sorry," I insisted as I rose to my feet and held out the stack of papers that I had gathered for her to take. "It's completely my fault – I should have been watching where I was going."

"Well I guess that makes two of us," she said with a smile, glancing up at my face as she reached out to take the papers back. When her eyes settled on my face, her mouth parted a little and she grinned warmly, recognising me at the same moment that I had recognised her. "Harry! How have you been?"

"I've been good," I muttered, rubbing at the back of my neck as I looked her over. "You're working in the ministry now?"

"I was interviewed for a job after I left Hogwarts," she explained, "I'm in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Me too," I grinned.

"I think the entire wizarding world knows that." Laughing slightly, she tucked some of her hair behind her ears and I noticed then that she'd grown it out "You _are_ a rising name in the auror field."

"I'm really not," I protested, ears burning slightly.

"Oh shoot," she frowned, glancing down at her watch, "I've got a meeting I need to be at. But we should definitely meet up soon?"

The scene shifted before I could give her my answer.

The moment the scene around me started to drift away, I wanted to scramble towards her to try and figure out if this was it? Was I going to wake up? Was she 'it' for me? And if she was then why in Merlin's name had I not realised that when we had been in school together? So what she had been in the year below me, she'd still been in the same house and the number of conversations that we'd had over our years in school –

"Harry!"

I turned in the direction that her voice had come from to see her running towards me. My eyes widened as I finally took in my surroundings. I stood in the middle of Diagon Alley and I was clearly waiting for her. But why? She hurried to close the distance between us and when she was standing in front of me, she gave me a sheepish smile.

"Sorry I'm late." She adjusted her bag on her shoulder, "Did I keep you waiting long?"

"Not long at all," I assured her, trying to catch up on the situation.

"That's good." She slipped her arm into the crook on mine as we started to walk through the street. I glanced down at her in surprise, not at the casual gesture, but rather at the way I felt my heart jump at the action. I blinked quickly, looking away from her to hide my astonishment. Godric, I felt like a fourth year again.

"So, what do you want to do then?" I asked, trying to figure out what it was I was doing here.

"Well, you're the one that asked me out on this date," she teased, catching me by surprise. We were on a date? How had that happened? "Doesn't the great Harry Potter have a plan?"

"I told you to stop calling me that," I felt the colour run up my neck. Even when we were in school she'd called me that to tease me. "And I don't have anything planned."

"Then let's improvise. I mean, how bad can a date be?" The corner of her mouth curved up coquettishly and I just knew she was going to fluster me even more. I was right. "It can't be as bad as your date with Cho was."

"Hey," I protested as I led her into the bookshop. She hadn't asked to walk into the shop but from the way she'd been staring into the display, I knew there was a book she wanted to add to her already large personal collection. "That date traumatised me – I was so inexperienced that I had no idea what to do."

"And are you still inexperienced?" she asked offhandedly, taking a book from the bookshelf.

Her question stumped me and I wondered how hell I was going to keep up with this woman. Or maybe that wasn't the point. I risked a glanced at her and saw her biting her lip to stop from laughing. She replaced the book on the shelf.

"Merlin Harry, you should see your face." She brushed some of my hair back from my forehead, "I'm only teasing."

I caught her hand in mine, "I know."

I could still feel the warmth of her hand as the scene shifted yet again.

Taking a few moments to gather myself, I glanced around my surroundings and realised that I was standing in the hallway outside of her apartment. She stood in front of me and I assumed that we had just returned from a date. So we would go on more than one date and our first clearly hadn't been a disaster.

She called my name gently and I glanced down at her, seeing the way she rocked back and forth on her feet.

"You proved that you're quite a bit of a dancer, Mr Potter," she was teasing me again but all I could do was smile.

"We both know that's a lie."

"Maybe." She took a step closer to me, "But I had a lot of fun today, so thank you for taking me out."

"There's no need to thank me."

There was a short silence where it seemed like we were both waiting for something but what that something was, I wasn't quite sure. But that was ok because she clearly knew what it was. Closing the distance between us, she pressed her lips gently against mine and I found myself returning the kiss, hand coming up to frame her face. This wasn't our first kiss but this was the first time that I, the one from the past – or rather the one that was asleep – had kissed her. Merlin this was all so confusing.

She pulled away from me, stepping away to unlock her front door.

"Harry," she started, her back facing me. "Do you want to come in for some coffee?"

"Coffee." I cleared my throat, "Coffee sounds good."

I followed her inside, watching as she slipped out of her heels and padded barefoot into the room. "Feel free to take your shoes off."

Walking further into her apartment, I glanced around the room and followed her into the kitchen. Leaning against the door I watched as she switched the kettle on.

"We should go dancing again," the words surprised even me so I couldn't comment on her clear surprise.

"But you don't like dancing." She didn't look at me as she rose to her toes to get some mugs out from the overhead cupboard.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I grinned when she glanced curiously at me from over her shoulder, "But you love to dance."

"And you'd be willing to force yourself through more hours of dancing?" She raised an eyebrow.

I nodded and she smiled, even as she tried to fight it, "For you I would."

"Harry Potter," she muttered, crossing the distance towards me, "You complete charmer."

"Well I try."

She pressed her lips against mine and wrapped her arms around my neck, deepening the kiss. My hands found her waist and I pulled her against me, returning it. I pulled back from her, breathing deeply.

"Screw it," she muttered and before I could ask or say anything, she took my hand and pulled me after her as she walked out of the kitchen. I followed silently after her and comprehension gained on me when I ended up shutting her bedroom door behind me.

Everything shifted again; I went from being in one bed to being in another, but still with the same woman curled against me with her back pressed to my stomach.

Only this time she was very much awake and clearly panicked about something. Rubbing my hand up and down her back I waited, knowing she would tell me what was bothering her eventually. She was clearly frightened, clinging to me as she stared out into the room.

"Are you ready to talk now?" I asked quietly, hands sliding down her arms.

She nodded slowly, "It was so scary Harry, Merlin." Without a word, I waited patiently for her to speak, knowing that whatever she had to say, she'd say at the end. "I'd just gotten home from work and they took _everything._ It was like a bloody tornado had gone through the entire apartment – the wallpaper was ripped; shattered glass was all over the floor and I just froze. I had no idea what to do."

"And that's natural," I assured her quietly, calmly. "It's a completely normal reaction to have in that situation especially when you came home to find out you'd been robbed blind."

"I'm glad you came the moment I sent for you," she murmured with a sigh, turning into me. Burying her head into my neck she let out a slow sigh, "Godric if you hadn't have come, then I don't know what I would have done. It felt like I'd been so completely violated; they'd gone through everything, rummaged through all my stuff and one of them had even stuck around in the apartment. He was hiding under a disillusionment charm in my bedroom and if I had walked into the room on my own then who knows what –"

"Nothing would have happened to you," I said firmly, taking her by surprise. She looked up at me, "I wouldn't have let anything happen to you."

"I know." She reached out to brush her thumb against my cheek, "I'm glad you caught onto him hiding there and dealt with him. Your auror training paid off."

I let out a sigh, pressing my cheek to the top of her head. The number of times I had walked in on crime scenes that looked like that was uncountable. But to walk into your girlfriend's apartment and see something like that, to realise how close you were to potentially losing her –

"I guess I should have let you install those wards, huh?" she muttered self-deprecatingly. "If I hadn't been so stubborn then I'd still have all of my things. I definitely wouldn't be scared of going back to my apartment. Merlin, what am I going to do Harry?"

"Move in with me," I offered quietly.

She pulled away from me, looking up at me with doubt in her eyes. "You don't mean that."

"Of course I do, you don't expect me to let you go back to that apartment, do you? Besides, some of your things are already here so you don't need to go back to you place anytime soon. And I've got all of the necessary wards up and more, plus –"

"Ok," she said quietly, cutting off my incessant ramblings.

Once again, the scene I found myself shifted into one that I spent almost every weekend in.

I was in at the Burrow for one of Mrs Weasley's family dinners except this time, I didn't arrive alone. From the way my girlfriend had stuck to my side the moment we had stepped into the Burrow. She knew most of the younger Weasley'sm especially since we'd all gone to school together but she'd never seen them in this sort of scenario.

"Are you alright?" I asked, holding her hand a little tighter.

"I'm fine," she assured me, looking up briefly and I frowned a little. She was lying. "There's just a lot of people here."

Ginny walked towards the pair of us before either of us could say another word and the two long-time friends headed off, leaving me standing alone. I watched her as she talked quietly to Ginny, her smile coming out and finally let myself relax.

"So, you've been ditched by your date then?" Ron asked knowingly as he walked out of the kitchen, balancing two dishes full of food towards the table. "It happens to all of us, mate."

"Let me help you with that," I offered, grabbing one of the dishes from him. He sent me a grateful smile.

Dinner progressed quickly like it usually did and I kept stealing glances to the woman sat beside me, throughout it. She seemed a lot more at ease then she had when we had first arrived and I was so relieved. The Weasley's were my family and if she didn't like them or Merlin forbid, they didn't like her then there would have been a serious problem.

"Harry?" Mrs Weasley called out and I glanced towards the older woman who was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, gesturing for me to go to her side. "Will you come and help me with dessert, dear?"

"Of course."

Pushing away from the table, I dropped a kiss to the top of her head before walking into the kitchen. When I stepped over the threshold of the kitchen, Mrs Weasley ushered me over to her side. Upon reaching her side, I glanced at her curiously, looking for the dessert that she needed help with.

"So, how long have you been dating then?" she asked, rummaging through the cupboards.

My lips curved up in the corner; I should have known, "Almost a year."

"And she makes you happy?"

"Very," I admitted and I found myself a little surprised by how true the words were. Clearing my throat a little, I was hesitant with admitting, "I think she's the one."

"The one?" Mrs Weasley repeated, turning to face me with a raised eyebrow. "You haven't been together for long but you already think that?" At my nod, she smiled warmly and I felt the pressure that had built in my stomach release. She liked her. Mrs Weasley was probably the closest thing I had to a mother and if she approved of her then that was it; the last of the doubt I felt slipped away. Everything was falling into place.

"I think she is, but I'm not going to do anything yet. She might end up running for the hills if I move too fast."

"Well," she said slowly, producing two pies out of thin air. "Then when she's ready, you better add her to the family."

There was a tradition that I kept to and it seemed, as my dream shifted once more, that this year I wouldn't be the only one to observe the tradition.

It was Halloween night and I walked a familiar path quietly, holding the hand of the solemn woman beside me. She hadn't spoken a word since we had apparated into Godric's hollow and I was thankful for it; I knew that in this circumstance alone, I wouldn't be able to offer her any comfort. Instead, I would be the one to seek comfort from her. And she gladly gave it, squeezing my hand as we turned into the graveyard.

I lead her through the graveyard, towards the white marble tombstone and let my throat tighten a little. Silently, she moved closer to me, wrapping an arm around my waist as we got closer to the tombstone. Once we were standing in front of the tombstone, she dropped my hand for a moment to summon a bunch of flowers and set them gently against the stone.

Rising to her feet once more, she stepped back to my side and held my hand again. I squeezed her hand this time, turning to look at her with a small forced smile. She understood instantly, linking her elbow through mine and putting her head on my shoulder.

"I think they'd be so proud of you," she admitted, "You've grown up into this strong, brave, moral man and any parent would be proud to have a son like you."

"I hope they're proud," I said quietly, staring down at the words engraved onto the tombstone. "I want to live my life knowing that I make the people I love proud of me."

"And I'm sure you do."

"Do I make you proud?"

She lifted her head, staring up at me before pressing a kiss to my cheek. "More than you could ever know."

"They'd have liked you," I said quietly, after a while, turning my head slightly to bury it in her hair.

"Do you think so?"

"I'm certain." Smiling wanly, I started to lead her out of the graveyard. "Merlin, I think they'd have love to be able to meet you."

"I wish I could have met them too."

As we walked out of the graveyard, I tucked my hand – the one that wasn't holding hers – into my pocket. My fist closed around the black velvet box hidden deep inside my pocket.

* * *

My eyes opened reluctantly the next morning and my mind was muddled with confusion. Part of me wanted to run to the department she worked in and meet her but another part of me knew that it wouldn't work. I'd have to wait however long I was destined to wait until I could meet her. It seemed like my life relied on destiny a lot, but I wasn't willing to risk this. I wasn't willing to risk losing her or the future I'd seen with her.

Merlin this was insane. I hadn't seen her in almost two years and yet, through that long dream alone I'd fallen head over heels for her and there was no way of turning it around. Not that I wanted to.

Sitting up, I rubbed the last of the sleep out of my eyes. It had been a _long_ time since I'd had such a restful sleep. Part of me hadn't wanted to wake up from that dream. But it had lasted longer than I thought it would and as I glanced at the clock I practically jumped out of bed. The dream had lasted too long and now I was running late for work.

I hurried to get ready and was apparating out of my home in record time. Finding myself outside of the ministry building I rushed inside. I'd make it to work on time as long as I wasn't delayed any more. Anxiously my eyes looked around the room, searching out a clock. But surely, being late just _once_ wouldn't be that big of a deal. That voice in my head, my conscience, which sounded remarkably like Hermione started to scold me instantly for the way my thoughts were going.

My attention, not on my surroundings, was brought back into focus when I bumped into someone. The woman I had bumped into gasped slightly as the impact of our collision had all her papers spilling out of my hands. Inexplicably my heart started to race inside my chest as I kneeled beside her, helping her pick up the papers. Was this really it? I had been fully prepared to walk into work every day for the next however many years to see if I was to bump into her on that particular morning.

"I'm so sorry," she apologised, her voice sending that familiar warmth to my chest and I found myself grinning like a fool at just the sound of it.

"Don't be sorry," especially not when this is the thing I've been looking forward to from the moment I woke up. I rose to my feet, silently willing her to raise her eyes to my face so she could hurry up and recognise me already. Outstretching the stack of papers towards her, I added, "It's completely my fault – I should have been watching where I was going."

But Merlin was I glad I hadn't.

"Well, I guess that makes two of us." She looked up at me finally, reaching out to take the papers. My heart pounded, as a sick sense of dread filled me. What if this wasn't going to end up like it had in my dream? What if I had done something wrong? "Harry! How have you been?"

"I've been good," I muttered, more than a little embarrassed my how desperately I was clinging to this dream business. My thoughts were completely out of control as I struggled to stop myself from asking her out right there on the spot. Half of me wanted to ask her out because damn it, we were meant to be and we were in love. But the other more rational half of me, reminded me that I was the one that had seen our future, she hadn't. She had no means of knowing what was to come. Clearing my throat, I asked, "You're working in the ministry now?"

"I was interviewed for a job after I left Hogwarts," she explained as she adjusted her hold on the papers in her arms, "I'm in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

I grinned, realising how easy it would be to sneak in to see her whenever I had a break. "Me too."

"I think the entire wizarding world knows that." She laughed slightly, tucking some hair behind her ears. Like in the dream, she had grown her hair out since out time in Hogwarts and she'd continue to do so and it suited her. I wanted to tell her but stopped myself. "You _are_ a rising name in the auror field."

"I'm really not," I protested, ears burning slightly as her words brought me out of my appraisal of the way she had changed since our time at school.

"Oh shoot," she frowned, glancing down at her watch, "I've got a meeting I need to be at. But we "should definitely meet up soon?"

Smiling apologetically at me she went to hurry past me and before I realised what I was doing I reached out to catch her arm. She glanced curiously down at my arm and I pulled it back, my ears burning crimson when her eyebrow quirked teasingly.

"Let's go out sometime." The words were out of my lips before I could stop them and I wanted to curse myself the moment I heard myself say then. Merlin's beard she probably thought I was some freak now – who asks someone out the moment they meet them again after _years_? I hurried to fix myself, "We should catch up – I feel like I haven't spoken to you in forever."

"I've got lunch free today," she offered cautiously, "If you want to –"

"I do," I said perhaps a little too quickly.

"And Harry," her teasingly smile was back, "This isn't a date – I think we need to talk a bit more before I let you take me out on a date."

"Of course." My sincere agreement wiped the teasing from her smile. She looked over me seriously before she grinned and headed off to her meeting.


	2. Epilogue

_3 YEARS LATER_

George had a habit of popping around to the house randomly and today he had done the same thing. He had floo'ed into my home with Ron by his side and they had both announced that they were here to kidnap me for my stag do and just before they made any move to kidnap me, George had slipped something into my hand, telling me to remember to take it before I fell asleep – if I was sober enough to remember to do so.

And hours later, when I stumbled into my room I suddenly recalled George's impromptu gift. I fumbled with my pockets and finally retrieved it, looking down at a very familiar looking vial which had a note attached to it. I took a while for me to probably read what it said, let alone to comprehend it. But I got it eventually.

 _I modified it a little this time round, Potter. Don't you want to know what you're letting yourself in for?_

I tipped its contents down my throat and crashed on my bed instantly, knowing I wasn't sober enough to change my clothes. I was out like a light.

The first scene of the dream was my wedding reception and as I looked down at the woman sitting beside me, I couldn't help but want to take her in my arms again.

At Mrs Weasley's insistence that living together during the month leading up to wedding was bad luck, she had moved out of our shared home for a short while. Since she had moved out, our bed had seemed too big and sometimes when I woke in the middle of the night, I wanted nothing more than to roll over towards her side of the bed and hold her as she slept. But she wasn't there.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked quietly, leaning towards me as Ron started his best man speech.

"Just how beautiful you looked today." Taking her hand in mine, I pressed my lips to the back of her hand and smiled gently when she blushed prettily at the compliment.

"You're only saying that because you missed sharing the bed," she said back, hitting the nail on the head.

"Hey," I protested quietly as, judging from the good-hearted chuckles going through the crowd, Ron poked fun at me during his speech, "Don't pretend that you don't like to cuddle."

"I don't like to cuddle anywhere near as much as you do." She smiled knowingly, "And don't pretend that you're so pure that only cuddling was on your mind."

"I'm not going to." I drew away from her a little, just in time to hear the end of Ron's speech.

He raised his flute of champagne towards us in cheers and the guests copied the action. Taking the silent cue, I leaned back towards my new bride and pressed my lips soundly against hers.

This scene ended with a kiss and the next began with one.

I pulled back, staring down at my utterly exhausted wife. She strained a little for breath but smiled tiredly when one of the nurses handed our new-born son to her. Instantly cradling him to her chest, she glanced down at him with a gentle smile. She was going to be such a good mother.

"Harry," she said gently, "You were right – we did have a boy so you win the bet and get to name him." My eyes drifted from my son to her eyes. "So, any ideas?"

"James Sirius," I answered instantly, blinking back tears.

She reached out to take my hand in hers and I chuckled slightly, removing my glasses to wipe my tears away. Looking down at the pair of them I felt my heart swell with so much love that I was surprised it wasn't going to explode. Family – we were a family. I finally had the family I'd wanted for so long and the woman staring up at me, eyes displaying her blatant concern was the centre of it all.

"Harry?" she called out cautiously.

"Thank you," I said sincerely, pressing a kiss to her forehead, both her cheeks, her nose and finally her lips. "Thank you so much."

"Whatever for, you silly man?" She reached out a hand to brush her fingers across my cheek.

I brushed back some of the hair that was stuck to her forehead, "For James, for marrying me, for making me the happiest man on the planet – for everything."

"Oh Harry –" James let out a sharp cry and my wife laughed gently, sitting up to pull the front of her hospital gown down. "It sounds like he's hungry."

Suddenly James was older, and he was running off to play with his younger brother toddling after him.

"Albus," his mother called out cautiously from beside me but our son made no indication that he'd heard his mother call after him. Instead of trying to call after our son again, my wife turned to look at me, "Can you watch over the boys? I'm going to go and help Fleur. There's still a lot to do."

"Well, go and help her, I'll keep an eye on the kids."

"Thanks." She pecked my cheek and headed off into the house.

I was left standing in the garden of shell cottage, watching over the group of children who were running riot. Ron, who had been left to chaperone the kids with me, sent me a look as one of the kids started crying. It was like a chain reaction – one after another the kids started crying for some reason. Sighing a little, I walked towards the group of kids and upon seeing me, both James and Albus scrambled into my arms.

James started bawling, smothering his face in my shoulder as he began to explain why he was crying but his sentences made very little sense. Albus, copying his older brother started to do the same and resorted to babbling randomly against my chest. I shushed both boys, watching as Ron cradled a crying Rosie in one arm and Molly was clinging to her uncle with her all of her might. Fred and Louis were each holding onto one of his legs.

The birthday girl, left alone to deal with her tears, started to cry even louder. Teddy ran out of the cottage suddenly, rushing out to embrace the younger girl in his arms. Victorie clung to him and I shared a look with my godson from over her shoulder. Sometimes he seemed so much older than he actually was.

The garden of shell cottage faded away, replaced by the garden of our family home.

"Happy anniversary," a voice whispered quietly in my ear and bought an instant smile to my face.

Turning to face the woman sat beside me, I pressed a kiss to her lips. "Happy anniversary, love." I pulled away from her and muttered, "I really wish you'd have let me plan something for today."

"And I'd have liked that too but," she placed a hand on her bulging stomach for emphasis, "With the newest Potter running behind schedule, it made sense to not plan something in case my water suddenly breaks."

Our children ran up to us before I could say another word. James, now eight, grinned mischievously as he approached me.

"Alright troublemaker," I muttered, running a hand through the messy curls on top of his head, "What have you done now?"

"Nothing dad," he protested innocently and I shared a look with his mother.

"James," she said warningly.

"Honestly mum." He grinned as if to prove his innocence, looking to his mum, "You can even as Al."

As if taking a cue, Albus walked up behind his brother and pressed a kiss to his mother's cheek. "He's telling the truth mum, he hasn't done anything."

"Then why don't I believe you?" she wondered with a raised eyebrow, crossing her arms, "When you two troublemakers decide to plan something then there's always trouble." She narrowed her eyes, "What did you two do to your sister?"

"Daddy!" Lily cried, running out of the house and towards me. I looked between my two boys, waiting for them to tell me what they'd done but they continued to feign innocence. Lily climbed into my lap, "What's the matter, princess?"

"Harry?" my wife gasped suddenly, making me look away from Lily who hmphed in response.

"Love?"

She breathed in sharply, "My water just broke."

I was at Kings Cross before I could have possibly responded to that bombshell.

It took a few seconds for me to get used to the sudden change in scene and for the rapid burst of adrenaline that had been caused by the previous announcement to fade away into nothingness.

"Come on dad," James rushed, tugging on my arm, "You said you'd show me how to get to the platform and I don't want to miss the train."

"You need to run at the wall," I explained, trying to come to grips with the fact that my eldest son was already heading off to Hogwarts. Merlin. "Watch me."

I ran up to the wall, and just like that I was through it and onto the other side. Waiting patiently for the rest of my family I watched as James followed me with Lily and Albus on either side of him. The three of them stared around the platform in wonder and they reluctantly walked to my side.

"Where's your mum?" I asked Lily who took my hand.

"She's bringing Remus and Minnie with her." Here Lily rolled her eyes and I made no comment on the action. Instead I was reeling from the fact that I had five kids. Good Godric.

"And you know what Minnie's like," Albus continued for his little sister, "ever since she started walking she insists on walking, even though she's _so_ slow."

The other half of our family stepped through to the platform and I hurried to my wife's side when I noticed that she was holding a quietly sleeping boy – no more than one in her arms as well as juggling a rapidly squirming girl.

"You should have called me," I insisted as I took our daughter from her arms.

"Well I did, but both father and son were too excited about James leaving for Hogwarts to hear me." She grinned teasingly and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. All our children, bar a sleeping Remus, made a sound of disgust.

Minnie squirmed a little in my arms and tried to get down.

"Minerva Hermione Potter," I said quietly making her stop her squirming, "There's no way I'm letting you run around the platform, young lady."

She pouted and I pressed a kiss to her forehead. The Hogwarts express was the last thing I saw as the scene faded and I found myself standing in the hallway of our home.

"Dad's home," Lily announced loudly, spying me from the top of the stairs.

I braced myself, preparing to find myself wrapped up in little arms. Sure enough, Lily and Minerva were the first to run up to me. Both of my daughters wrapped their arms around my legs and I ruffled their hair, grinning as little Remus Arthur ran on his unsteady legs towards me. I snagged him into my arms, throwing him in the air and catching him. Cradling him against my chest, I looked over at my 'all grown up' sons who were standing to the side.

"I missed you," Minerva's words were muffled against my trousers and I winced a little when I realised she'd gotten pasta sauce all over my trouser leg.

"Let's head in," I suggested to the girls who released me and ran into the house. Walking towards my older boys, I rubbed their hair. "How was today boys? A good start to the beginning of the summer holiday?"

"I'm glad to be home," Albus admitted, hugging me very briefly. "Also, Mr Malfoy said," here he put on a very Malfoy-esque expression. "to tell you ' _Potter'_ and that you would understand what that meant."

I smirked, "Well when you go and stay with the Malfoys next week make sure you tell him I said, ' _Malfoy',_ alright?"

Albus nodded, not understanding and walked away, muttering about how both me and Malfoy were mental. As he walked away, I looked to my eldest son who shuffled a little on his feet. I held out one arm – the other balancing Remus against my chest. When he realised the coast was clear, James stepped into my arms for a hug.

"How was today? Did you hold down the fort for me?"

"I did." He bit down on his bottom lip, "Dad, mum went upstairs half an hour ago and hasn't come down yet."

"Alright, I'll go and check on her." Handing Remus over to his eldest brother, I climbed the stairs and headed towards our bedroom. I popped my head around the door and frowned when I saw my wife sat on the edge of the bed, her head buried in her hands. I was instantly worried. "Love?"

At the sound of my voice, her head snapped up. Giving me an unimpressed look, she picked something up and threw it at me. "This is all your fault!"

I stared down at the object which, after hitting my chest had fallen to the floor. Picking up the muggle pregnancy test, my eyes widened little. "Really?"

"Wipe that smile off your face Harry!" She burrowed her head in her hands, "I honestly think we should have you neutered or something."

I was making my way over to the bed, sitting beside her in silence. Staring down at the test in my hands I let out a breath. How was I supposed to tell her that I had always wanted a family as large as the Weasley's? I forced myself to speak, "Do you not want –"

"I never said that," she cut me off, looking up at me, "Just – this is the last one, alright?"

"Alright." I pressed a kiss to her temple and didn't mention the fact that she'd said the same thing when she'd found out about Minerva, and then when she'd found out about Remus.

I woke up from my dream with the biggest grin.


End file.
